Improvement in manufacture of boots and shoes



2 SheetsSheet 1. H. WIGHT.

Manufacture of Boots and Shoes.

. Patented July 23,1878.

N.PETERS, PHQTDLITHOGRAPHER WASHINGTON. n c.

2 Sheets-Sheet 2. H. WIGHT. Manufacture of Boots and Shoes.

No. 206,377. Patented July, 23, 1878.

FIG.8

\ MWMQQ Qixwwior:

N, PETERS, FHOTO-LITHQGRAPHER. WASHINGTON. D c.

PATENT HENRY \YIGIIT, OF NATICK, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO CHARLES II.

\VIGIIT, OF BROOKLYN, NIYW YORK. I

IMPROVEMENT IN MANUFACTURE OF BOOTS AND SHOES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 206,377, dated July 23, 1873; application tiled June 24, 1S7- To all whom 'it may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY W IGHT, of the town of Natick, in the county of Middlesex, State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Shoe-Vamps and Boot-Vamps, of which thet'ollowing is a specification:

The invention relates to vamps for shoes, brogans, boots, &c.

It has been customary heretofore to make the vamps of shoes, brogans, &c.,in one piece, extending up between the side pieces under the lacing. This form of vamp is objectionable for the reasons, first, that the upper or tongue part of the vamp cannot well be extended to the height desirable without more crimping than the leather will in all cases endure; second, that more expense and labor than is warranted by the prices of the goods is incurred in the necessary crimping where the material is suitable to endure it and, third, that it requires a large area or amount of leather.

In my invention, however, the vamp is thrown down upon the last across the ball, so as to avoid much, if not all, of the crimping usually required, and at the same time a higher and better tongue or covering to the instep is provided, while the amount of stock required is less instead of more. My vamp may also be used for boots with the same advantages.

In the accompanying drawing, in which similar letters of reference indicate like parts, Figure l is a plan showing the form of the vamps as they are laid out on the side of leather from which they are out. Fig. 2 is a plan of the vamp hitherto in use. Fig. 3 is a plan of the vamp, showing the location of the slit. Fig. 4 is a plan of the vamp, showing the slit spread open to receive the tongue. Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the complete shoe, showing the tongue secured to the edges of the slit. "Fig. 6 is a similar view of the vamp as applied to a boot. Fig. 7 is a plan of the boot-vamp; and Fig. Sis a plan of the bootleg adapted to the vamp.

In the old form of shoe-vamp, V, Fig. 2, the tongue is formed from the part marked T, and lying outside of the line L, which indicates the location of the instepedge of my new vamp, V, when placed thereon. The tongue is also shown by the dotted lines, and in position, in Figs. 4 and 5. The tongue T I out from the skirts or waste leather, which answers as well, in that part of the shoe, as it cut from the same part as the rest of the vamp, while it enables me to produce shoes at a cost materially less than has heretofore been thought possible; and yet the tongue of the shoe is made to extend up between the side pieces much higher than is practicable by the old method, as indicated by the dotted lines in Fig. 2, showing the shape and dimensions of the old vamp. In fact, the tongue cannot be cheaply made as long as is desirable in the old way, since it requires so much more leather, and so materially increases the cost by diminishing the number of vamps that can be cut from a side of leather; and, comparing the diagrams shown in Figs. 1 and 2, I find that from a side which will cut twenty-two of the vamps shown in Fig. 1 I can cut twenty-eight of those shown in Fig. 2, making an increase of over on e-quarter obtained by using the form shown in Fig. 2.

An additional advantage found in my vamp and tongue is that, having the vamp slit down to a certain point and thrown open with the tongue inserted to a certain pitch to conform to the rise of the instep, the fore part of the vamp can be brought down onto the last, so that an ordinary split-leather vamp will last down onto the ball as smoothly as a calf-skin vamp, thereby acting as or in the place of a crimp to the whole fore part of the shoe, and throwing it open to admit the foot. In fact, it has been found impossible, in lasting the split or wax brogan, to bring the vamp down to the last across the ball, and hence it has been the practice to cut the vamp wide at that point, thereby making an imperfect fit, whereas by cutting the vamp in the form V, Figs. 3, 4, and 5, the vamp may be thrown down onto the last more perfectly, although less leather is used or required at that point to accomplish it.

The spreading of the slit S to any desired extent, and insertion of a separate piece for the tongue, results in such a formation that on folding the vamp on its longitudinal center a crimp is raised over the instep of any desired pitch, according to the length and spread of the slit and the size of the tongue inserted. \Vhen applied or used in the production of boots, I cut the vain p in substantially the same shape as when intending it for shoes, only I prefer to round the corners adjacent to the slit S, as at O O. The boot-leg is shown cut in one piece, with the ton guel projecting therefrom, and the edges of the vamp on each side are stitched upon the same on the lines L L.

In all cases I cut the upper part of the vamp on a hollow or concave line, whereas it has formerly been cut on a convex line.

I claim as my invention 1. In the manufacture of boots and shoes, the vamp provided with a central longitudinal slit over the instep part, which is spread or opened, and a tongue secured by its edges to the edges of the slit, substantially as shown and described.

2. The Vamp V and boot-leg L, in combination, in the manner and for the purposes set forth.

Vi tucsses:

EDWIN O. Monsn, J. MoMANUs. 

